Out of Time
by DZ2
Summary: One-Shot: When Sirius was meant to die, a guardian angel seemed to step in, but the truth is more surprising than one may believe as the future is saved by one who has lived it. Time Travel involved. Signs of Harmony; character death.


Out of Time: A Harry Potter Fan Fiction

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the associated characters; all copyright belongs to JK Rowling;**

**Plot: **One-Shot: When Sirius was _meant_ to die, a guardian angel seemed to step in, but the truth is more surprising than one may believe as the future is saved by one who has lived it

**Author's Information: **This one may seem a bit…out there, but the idea actually came from the twelfth book in the series _The Saga of Darren Shan_ – don't own – and it just seemed, I don't know, nice? Anyway, enjoy…oh, and for the 'death' I'm going with the book – where Bella hits Sirius with a stunner rather than the AK.

Mentions of Harry/Hermione

Normal Speech

'Thought'

_**Out of Time**_

One moment in time;

That was all it would take to bring the world to its knees or make and break a champion;

For Harry, it was a case of desperation meets disbelief as he fought alongside Sirius against Lucius Malfoy and Antonin Dolohov, curses and dark magic being rejected by spells, shields and disarming charms that had Sirius exclaiming, "Nice one, James!"

'James?' thought Harry, half-amused with the thought that his godfather compared him to his dad. However, before he could question Sirius' distracted choice of words, the Black Lord had sent Lucius flying while Dolohov had been knocked down and was now engaged in a fire-fight with Moody.

That was when the moment came for Harry as, just when he was about to congratulate Sirius and thank him for his help, Harry was suddenly knocked away from Sirius by a powerful Banishing Charm while, at the same time, Bellatrix Lestrange swooped down and, facing Sirius, she laughed maniacally as she faced him head-on.

"Hello Siri," she cackled, lifting her wand as she added, "And goodbye…"

As Sirius raised his wand, Bellatrix fired off a red light from her wand that struck at Sirius, forcing his steps to edge backwards, as though he was moving towards the Veil.

'No,' thought Harry, going for his wand, but not before another Banishing Charm from Lestrange sent his wand flying, leaving Harry to watch with desperation as Sirius…_bounced! _'What?'

Harry's question was on Sirius' lips as he lifted his wand again, looking back at the Veil before he turned and began an intense duel with the Death Eater witch, Bellatrix's eyes wide with shock as she tried to understand what she'd just seen.

As the duel intensified, Harry joined Sirius once more, gaining a hold of his wand before he joined his godfather in the firefight, Bellatrix's efforts now being forced on the defensive against two of Hogwarts greatest DADA students and graduates, but this time, it was Sirius who fired off the stunner-like spell that sent Bellatrix reeling. When she was down, Sirius took Harry's hand and, without a word, he began to take his godson through towards the Atrium where they and the rest of the Order found Dumbledore duelling Voldemort.

"What in the name of Merlin happened back there?" asked Remus, catching up to his old friend.

Sirius, shaking his head, just sighed dramatically before he mused, "Someone must be watching over me, Moony."

_**Out of Time**_

Had any of the Order, Harry himself or any of the Death Eaters paid closer attention to their surroundings, they would have probably heard the sigh of relief escaping an unseen shadow as Sirius bounced off the Veil and the Death Eaters, who watched the event with incredulous eyes, were rounded up. Once the coast was clear, the figure lifted a jet-black wand into the air and cast an Ascendio charm that lifted him out of the Veil Chamber and back into the Prophecy Room.

Moving through the Ministry towards the exits, the figure only stopped once when he saw Dumbledore and Voldemort's duel intensifying, the eyes of the Order and Harry Potter watching with confused, but relieved expressions.

'My work isn't over yet,' the figure thought to himself, making for a Floo Gate, 'And I'm running out of time…the paradox has begun.'

_**Out of Time**_

The figure's first stop was Hogwarts herself, his tracks and his movements as silent as the shadows as he moved through the school, making for the seventh floor where, pacing back and forth, the figure whispered to himself, "I need to find the lost treasure; I need to find the lost treasure…"

As the door to the Room of Requirement appeared, the figure stepped inside and, moving through the stacks of junk that had filled the room, he stopped before a small box engraved with Ravenclaw's crest. With a wandless levitation spell mastered by him over the years he'd soon lose out on, the figure brought the box to the ground and, opening it, he revealed a silver diadem with a sapphire in the front.

Lifting the diadem out of the box, the figure heaved a sigh before he whispered, "Rowena, Helena, this is for you."

Then, impossibly, the figure began to channel magic into his hands: good magic that seemed to counter the evil presence within the diadem, both the figure's hands and the diadem now glowing with a hallowed white light. As the light intensified, an ear-piercing shriek filled the Room of Requirement before a thick black mist rose into the air and, in a manner similar to a vampire, the mist suddenly turned to dust that fell to the ground and faded into nothingness.

Returning the diadem to its casing, the figure heaved a sigh before he pocketed the box and, looking out of the window towards the moon, he thought to himself, 'I don't have much time left…but I can't leave anything to chance.'

Then, in a remarkably-hard-to-describe piece of magic, the figure vanished in a wisp of black shadows, unaware of the pale face of a Hogwarts ghost watching from the shadows, her eyes filled with delight and tears of joy as she saw the curse leaving her Mother's treasure.

'Whoever you are,' thought Helena Ravenclaw, 'Thank you.'

_**Out of Time**_

Over the next few hours, the figure moved from place to place, his powerful command over his magic pushing the darkness out of certain objects and leaving them in one piece: a ring with a powerful black-stone diamond in its crest, a cup that once belonged to Helga Hufflepuff – though this one took some subterfuge on his part as it was locked in a vault in Gringotts; there was also a locket that the figure had to acquire from Mundungus Fletcher, but that had been the easiest: one Imperio and the locket was in his possession.

The hardest one had been a snake since she never left her master's side, but thankfully, the figure could also speak the language of the snakes and, after a few moments, the darkness was lifted and exorcised from the serpent too.

The final piece of the puzzle came in a return trip to Hogwarts for the dark figure as he moved towards the Hogwarts Hospital Wing, his steps slightly sluggish as his time in this domain was waning. But he wouldn't fail: he couldn't.

Entering the Hogwarts Hospital Wing, the figure first moved to a bed where the red-haired form of Ronald Weasley was lying strapped up to tubes and IVs filled with potions of all sorts. From under his charm, the figure hissed with disdain and hatred before he whispered to the prone form, "You won't hurt her again…you won't get the chance."

Placing his hand on Ron's brow, it was a blood-red aura that shone from the figure's hand and poured itself into Ron, turning the IVs' contents as black as night while the boy's skin grew paler. Finally, when the figure removed his hand, he shook his head before he whispered, "You destroyed her before; now you won't do it again."

Leaving the boy to suffer, the dark figure moved to another bed, this one holding the raven-haired, emerald-eyed form of Harry Potter; once again, the dark figure placed his hand on Harry's brow before he whispered, "I know you won't understand this, but what I've done today, I've done because there is no other choice…and it is in the name of all those who I've failed to save. After today, you'll be free…and I only hope you don't make the same mistake twice."

Like with the other items, a white light poured out of the figure's hand and entered Harry's scar, the hero of the wizarding world groaning in his sleep while the magic pushed itself into his scar, the blackness from behind the scar being forced out and turning into nothingness.

Releasing Harry from his grip, the dark figure stepped back before he turned and, leaning down, he whispered to Harry's subconscious, "She needs you; in the days ahead, things will be hard, but now, you won't be alone…not again."

Rising from his position, the figure moved towards the door and, as soon as it closed behind him, he vanished with another wisp of shadows;

Early the next morning, Ron Weasley was pronounced dead from his injuries against the flying brains venom…

_**Out of Time**_

There were now two things left to do on the figure's list and, as he stood in a seemingly-ordinary graveyard, the rising sun coming up behind his back, he stared from under his hood at two gravestones in front of him, his hands trembling as he felt the approaching cold that came with what he'd done.

A paradox;

That was what Muggle scientists would call it, but he'd done it for everything that would follow on: perhaps now, the time would come for the magical world to get their heads out of their asses and…

"Don't move."

Raising his head, the figure scowled to himself as he turned his head slightly, his eyes narrowing under the hood he wore as Remus Lupin emerged from the shadows, his wand pointed at the figure in the hood. He seemed to have actually been waiting in the darkness for him, but, at the sight of the man, the figure lifted his hands, showing scarred, but pale skin and a ring of silver with what appeared to be a black diamond in its crest.

"I didn't want it to be true," Remus whispered, pointing his wand at the figure, "But I caught your scent in the Ministry…then at Hogwarts, twice…and now I follow your scent here. I don't know how, but there's no one else I know who has that scent about them: not like you…Harry."

With a sigh, the figure lifted his hand to his hood and removed it, revealing wild dark hair that framed a pale face like a halo of darkness; emerald-green eyes with a hint of blood-red to them looked at Remus with a mix of defeat and acknowledgement, a moon-shaped scar running over one eye from just above his eyebrow – _think Anakin in ROTS_.

"Hello, Moony," Harry whispered, his voice deeper than the boy Remus knew: there was also a hint of iciness to it that he couldn't understand.

"How…what…how are you here?"

"It's a long story."

"We seem to have time."

With another sigh, Harry unclipped the clasp around his neck and let it fall to the ground, revealing a black suit and pale, scarred skin around his neck and chest, the arms of the suit torn and burned while the rest of him seemed to be shrouded in darkness.

Drawing the wand that he had on him, Harry flicked it once before he transfigured it into a chair, which he sat down on before he looked up at Remus and asked, "Are you here to destroy me, Remus?"

"I just want answers," Remus explained, "The wand is insurance: who are you?"

"Harry James Potter…or, to be more specific, Harry James Gryffindor-Slytherin-Peverell-Potter-Black."

"How?"

"I'm not the cub you know now," Harry explained, "But I _am_ that boy…or rather, I once was: time has changed now, but I remember yesterday and everything I did there. This is a moment, Remus: a point in time that, one day, would destroy everything we hold dear. By changing it, I've given your Harry a chance to have a new life."

"How?"

"Sirius' death," continued Harry, indicating around them as he explained, "In the Ministry Battle, in my time, Sirius died and I was broken: worse than that, Fudge and the Ministry banded against me convincing the others that _I_ had murdered a Noble and Ancient Lord. When I tried to explain about Voldemort and the prophecy, I was hailed a liar, a traitor and a black-listed member of the community and, for that, I was exiled as leniency for my first act against Voldemort. So, in my exile, I travelled the world, learning more about magic, most notably my own, and learning the truth about Voldemort's survival."

"Which is?"

"He created Horcruxes," Harry explained, watching as Remus sat down on a fallen log, but not without keeping his wand trained on the wizard in front of him, "Seven of them, one of which I destroyed back in my second year: the locket of Salazar Slytherin, the cup of Helga Hufflepuff, the diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw, a ring that belonged to Tom's family and holds something that only _I _can control, Nagini, Tom's familiar and, finally, one inside my scar that he accidentally created the night he tried to kill me."

"Does…"

"They've already been destroyed," Harry answered, cutting off Remus' question as he continued, "And doing that, one destroys Voldemort: he's now permanently weakened and too unstable in his soul to create another: Dumbledore himself could take down Tom now, no matter what the prophecy states. However, I didn't just save Sirius to make sure this happened, I did it for other reasons too: you see, Remus, when I was sure I had the power to confront Tom, I returned and hunted down the Horcruxes, but I did it with just my friends Neville and Luna. Everyone else, even Hermione, thought I was still a traitor."

"Hermione?" asked Remus, noticing the sadness in Harry's voice as he explained his story.

"I love her," Harry explained, before he shrugged as he added, "Or rather, your Harry does: he's just never found the right way to say it without making it sound wrong or stupid. But, when those who would want to stop me tried to make me defeat Voldemort in _my_ time, which I _did_, they also threatened to destroy me even further. The now-late idiot, Ronald Weasley, had held her at wandpoint and insisted that I come back and do as I'm told like the good little pawn he said I was."

"How much time later was this?"

"Seven years," Harry answered, shrugging as he added, "It took me longer than I thought to hunt down the Horcruxes _and_ discover my true power: _the power the Dark Lord knows not_. It's why I'm always so powerful when my emotions are concerned: I can channel that power and harness incredible magical strengths, using them to do whatever I wish. So, when I say the Horcruxes are destroyed, I should say the darkness in them is destroyed…"

Here, he paused before he opened his coat and placed the items on the ground: the locket, the diadem, the cup and finally the ring, which he had on his finger.

"Nagini is free of Tom's control," Harry continued, indicating the items as he explained, "I used the love and power I've felt for my friends and their survival to exorcise the one inside me, but these ones, I just used my good-natured soul. It's a power that's neither good nor evil, Remus: it's just power…and it's mine."

"All right," Remus sighed, before he rubbed the bridge of his nose before he asked, "But Harry…Ron is _dead_ and you…you say you did it for them; why?"

"Because I surrendered to save Hermione," Harry explained, his hands now trembling as he explained, "And when I did, Ron still…he _slaughtered_ her and her parents as a reminder that even I had my weaknesses. Voldemort was destroyed, Remus, and I…I just lost it: I destroyed him and also struck down the Order and everyone in it. But using such magic when my body was physically exhausted wasn't without consequence and, well, I died."

"And yet here you stand," Remus noted.

"Yes," agreed Harry, "I didn't cross over, Remus: I was greeted by…well, let's just say Death himself visited me and gave me a chance to right my wrongs: apparently, it turns out that I'm something called the Master of Death and, as such, he was willing to give me a second chance. He told me to make a choice: go back and change one moment or pass on and let the world turn. I wasn't about to let my last memory of hope be my failure, so I chose to go back. I was given full control of my magic and I was sent back to the one _big_ moment where everything could change: Sirius' death in the Ministry."

"Why there?"

"Because that's where my shatter-point was hit hardest," Harry answered, "I used my power and saved Sirius from the Veil: it was a bit funny to see him bounce like that, but the deed is done. I don't know what'll happen, but I _do_ know that I'll now have a chance to make things right with everyone: as for Ron, I wasn't about to let him live so he could hurt Hermione again just to get to me."

"But…Harry," Remus argued, indicating the elder warrior sitting before him, "You've changed history now, so you'll never come back in time, you'll never try to save them. How…how do you expect to survive like that? Two can't exist in the same time: it's one of the biggest laws of magic."

"I'm already dying," Harry remarked, lifting his hand to show what looked like wisps of grey magic seeping out of his hands like steam from a freshly-cooked meal, "My body is disintegrating by the moment, but I'm not ready to bow to death just yet: I have maybe three hours left and I still have one thing left to do."

With that, he rose from his seat and, brushing down his clothes, he returned the hood to his head before he added, "No-one will remember seeing or hearing about me, but your Harry will still have a chance: help him and Sirius and don't let them make my mistakes."

"How can I make a difference?" asked Remus, watching as Harry moved off to the edge of the graveyard, stopping only once to look back at Remus before he answered him.

"You'll remember this, Remy…because the timelines only affect those who were there through the pain."

It was only when Harry vanished in a wisp of smoke that the Knut dropped for Remus…

_**Out of Time**_

Albus Dumbledore was a man on a mission;

With Harry now back in Hogwarts and in knowledge of the prophecy, Albus knew he had to act fast to ensure the hero of the wizarding world moved like destiny wanted him to.

With the right steps in the right directions, Dumbledore knew he could help Harry achieve his full potential without winding up on the wrong path or turning to Tom's side and the first thing he had to do was…

"You're about to make the biggest mistake ever, Dumbledore."

The voice distracted Dumbledore from his train of thought as he looked up, noticing his office was suddenly in darkness, both Fawkes and the Sorting Hat silenced by a magic he couldn't explain. As he went to try and light the lamps, the voice returned with a coldness to its voice that made the hairs on Dumbledore's neck stand on end.

"Don't get up, Albus…it wouldn't help you if you did."

"Who are you?" asked Dumbledore, trying anything to see through the darkness.

"One like you," the voice replied, Dumbledore then noticing that the owner of the voice was apparently in front of him, "Lost in darkness trying to save the light, but you see, this time, you don't need to do anything. You're thinking of trying to turn Harry Potter into your pawn and making sure he brings about the New Age, but, thanks to me, the New Age has already begun."

"What do you mean?"

"The Horcruxes are gone," the voice explained, Dumbledore then feeling a cold that ran down his spine as a sound like footsteps moved to the front of his desk, "All of them, including the one inside Harry, are now gone and Voldemort is weakened. You don't need Harry to die to destroy him and you don't need to condemn yourself any further to try and make that happen: have the Ministry or the Order take him out if you want, but now's the time he's waited for all this time: a time where Harry can finally live like a normal wizard."

"How do you know these things?"

"I don't," The figure admitted, his dark shroud now in front of Dumbledore as he added, "I just know you will make the right choice…unless you want to lose someone who was as precious to you as your sister. Let him discover his own destiny with whoever he wishes: you want to help him, then help him live…otherwise you'll regret it forever…again."

Dumbledore was then aware of the figure moving to the door of his office, his eyes watching the door carefully and, when it opened, Dumbledore saw the black cloak and the shrouded hood, but he didn't see who was underneath it.

"Don't bother trying to find out," the figure then told him, "You won't remember this after midnight tonight: you always did say that time was a mysterious thing: powerful and, when meddled with, dangerous. But, as you will try to persist for what you've done to the Chosen One, everything I've done _is_ for the Greater Good: not just yours, Professor, but everyone else's too."

Dumbledore finally found himself able to stand and, as he looked, he asked, "Since I'm not going to remember this, then…please tell me: who are you?"

The figure seemed to hesitate before he sighed and, turning to the old man, he looked at him from under the hood as he explained, "There are many definitions of a hero, Professor: it can be a warrior or a scholar…or just a misguided old man telling his student that an act of sacrifice leaves a mark that cannot be seen…for it exists in your very skin: love."

Dumbledore's eyes widened as the door to his office closed, revealing the light once more in more ways than one; running for the door, Dumbledore threw it open and, descending the stairs, all he found was an empty hallway and a few confused-looking students.

"Harry?"

_**Out of Time**_

'All tasks at hand have been completed; now it's time.'

So thought the Future Harry as he stood before the Veil, his skin now almost completely covered in the wisps of disintegration with his paradoxical body now being lost to the streams of time.

It seemed a bit ironic and maybe a bit cliché to end it where everything began and where it would begin again, but Harry didn't mind: he'd done everything he could with what he'd had at hand. Maybe now the world could truly enter that New Age Dumbledore had talked about; maybe Fudge wouldn't accept bribes so easily next time or just take _I was under the Imperius_ as an excuse to free criminals.

Maybe Neville would finally open his eyes and see himself as a warrior rather than letting his gran rule his life and perhaps the real Harry could give the Dursleys a magic-free life. Who knows?

Maybe he would actually get together with and marry Hermione and, one day, he'd tell his children a little story; a story about a boy who lived in a cupboard under the stairs and how a giant saved his life and changed his future.

And how, through adventures and misguided notions, he seemed to lose everything before he found it again with the fall of the Dark;

'Who knows? The future is not mine to decide…it's Harry Potter's to make and mould now.'

And so, with that final thought, Harry stepped into the Veil, his body disintegrating into nothingness just as he passed from this world to the next.

Leaving nothing behind to show he was ever there;

Nothing except the one thing he'd given his old self back:

Hope!

_**Out of Time**_

**10 Days Later:**

Harry, Hermione, Neville, Luna and their friends and cohorts all stood before the newly-dug grave of Ron Weasley as they paid homage and their final respects to their friend.

Hermione was trying to hold on, but, across the field, she could see Harry trying just as hard, Sirius standing at his side in new dress robes, the Black Lord's Crest on his robe. At Harry's other side, Remus Lupin placed a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder, but Hermione could see it:

She could see he'd blame himself for this and that was something she couldn't allow.

Moving around the field, excusing herself as Mrs Weasley comforted Ginny and the Twins, Hermione reached Harry's side and, slipping in next to Remus, she took his hand before she whispered, "If you're going to do it, don't: this was Voldemort's doing, Harry. You did all you could to protect us and now, you heard Minister Scrimgeour, He's finally dead. Gone."

"I just…I can't…he was our friend," Harry sniffed, resting his head on Hermione's shoulder, her hand tightening in his as he added, "How could…why did they take him from us?"

"He was always looking for an easy out," Hermione replied, earning a soft chuckle from Harry before she added, "But I bet he's happy knowing he did something right in trying to protect us _before_ anything bad happened. Now we can look to the future and honour him…and Cedric and your parents…and everyone else who fell because one nutcase wanted to rule the world."

Harry nodded in agreement and let Hermione take her turn in his embrace, her tears dampening his robe, but he didn't care: out of respect, he'd offered to have Ron buried in Godric's Hollow cemetery as a memorial to all who'd fallen because of the war.

The war that was now over;

And yet, as strange as it sounded, Harry couldn't help but feel like his task was not yet done, but he did know that he wasn't going to do it alone.

"Hey…Hermione?"

With a sniff, Hermione looked up at him before he shrugged ruefully as he asked, "I know it…it's not that appropriate, given where we are, but…what do you say to…a drink in the Three Broomsticks? In his honour?"

"You mean…like a date?" asked Hermione, unaware of Remus Lupin suddenly glancing in their direction.

With his typical friendly smile, Harry asked her, "Do you want it to be?"

Hermione looked back to the grave as they lowered the coffin into the ground, a part of her aware of Harry waiting on her answer: but, it wasn't until after they'd thrown flowers onto the coffin and the earth was filled in that Hermione, standing in front of the three graves – Lily and James and now Ron – before she took Harry's hand and, looking into his emerald eyes, she smiled and placed a gentle kiss on his lips before she answered him:

"I'd love to…"

**Well, there we go: I hope you liked this little one-shot adventure; like I said, it was inspired by the ending of the twelfth book in **_**The Saga of Darren Shan**_** and the rest seemed to go from there. I apologise for any confusions you may feel, but I hope you enjoyed this as much as you enjoy my story-length work;**

**Until next time, loyal readers;**

**DZ2**


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